Editing Common starling (section)

=== Nesting ===
[[File:Juvenile European starling (10739).jpg|thumb|right|A parent feeding a chick]]
Unpaired males find a suitable cavity and begin to build nests in order to attract single females, often decorating the nest with ornaments such as flowers and fresh green material, which the female later disassembles upon accepting him as a mate.<ref name=H1923/><ref name=Brouwer>{{cite journal | last1= Brouwer | first1= Lyanne | last2= Komdeur | first2= Jan | year= 2004 | title= Green nesting material has a function in mate attraction in the European starling | journal= Animal Behaviour | volume= 67 | issue= 3 | pages= 539–548 | doi= 10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.07.005 | hdl= 11370/18688a82-a350-4483-9e8c-977573cc5c85 | s2cid= 53166185 | url= http://www.myscience.eu/lyanne/pdfs/brouweretal04.pdf | access-date= 2013-03-03 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001027/http://www.myscience.eu/lyanne/pdfs/Brouweretal04.pdf | archive-date= 2016-03-04 | url-status= dead }}</ref> The amount of green material is not important, as long as some is present, but the presence of [[herbs]] in the decorative material appears to be significant in attracting a mate. The scent of plants such as [[Achillea millefolium|yarrow]] acts as an [[olfaction|olfactory]] attractant to females.<ref name=Brouwer/><ref name=Gwinner>{{cite journal | last1= Gwinner| first1=Helga | last2= Berger | first2= Silke| year= 2008| title=Starling males select green nest material by olfaction using experience-independent and experience-dependent cues | journal= Animal Behaviour | volume= 75 | issue = 3 | pages= 971–976 | doi =10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.08.008 | s2cid=53150932 }}</ref>

The males sing throughout much of the construction and even more so when a female approaches his nest. Following [[Copulation (zoology)|copulation]], the male and female continue to build the nest. Nests may be in any type of hole, common locations include inside hollowed trees, buildings, tree stumps and man-made nest-boxes.<ref name=H1923/> ''S. v. zetlandicus'' typically breeds in crevices and holes in cliffs, a habitat only rarely used by the nominate form.<ref name= michael>{{cite journal | last= Michael | first= Edwin D | year=1971 | title= Starlings nesting in rocky cliffs | journal= Bird-Banding | volume= 42 | issue = 2 | page= 123 |jstor =4511747 | doi= 10.2307/4511747 }}</ref> Nests are typically made out of straw, dry grass and twigs with an inner lining made up of feathers, wool and soft leaves. Construction usually takes four or five days and may continue through incubation.<ref name=H1923/>

Common starlings are both [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]] and [[Animal sexual behaviour#Polygamy|polygamous]]; although broods are generally brought up by one male and one female, occasionally the pair may have an extra helper. Pairs may be part of a colony, in which case several other nests may occupy the same or nearby trees.<ref name=H1923/> Males may mate with a second female while the first is still on the nest. The reproductive success of the bird is poorer in the second nest than it is in the primary nest and is better when the male remains monogamous.<ref name= sandell>{{cite journal | last1= Sandell | first1= Maria I | last2= Smith | first2= Henrik G | last3= Bruun | first3= Måns | year=1996 | title= Paternal care in the European Starling, ''Sturnus vulgaris'': nestling provisioning | journal= Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume= 39 | issue = 5 | pages= 301–309 | doi =10.1007/s002650050293| bibcode= 1996BEcoS..39..301S | s2cid= 19891369 }}</ref>